Blinded
by Mass Effecting Your Pants
Summary: FINALLY SORT OF MOSTLY EDITED 9-Mar-2010. PROBABLY LIKELY UNFORTUNATELY DISCONTINUED. NarutoxSasuke, Romance, Humour, dash of Angst and Drama. Kakashi, Sasuke, Sakura and Naruto are heading back to Konoha after a mission, but they run in to a little trouble. As such, things change much more than they expected...
1. Chapter 1

**IMMA FINALLY EDITING :D Mainly getting rid of anything that made me cringe **_**too**_** much but leaving the story mostly as is since I like and knew where the plot was going. When I've finished that, I'll look at how to proceed with this fic and – don't hold your breath, just in case – there MAY be an update!!**

**So, Chapter One has been edited 9-Mar-2010.**

_Blinded rated T...at the moment. Will give higher rating...for later chapters. Genre: General, Romance, Clichés, Slight Angst, Accidental or Purposeful Humour, Attempted Action. Contains adult language. To be clear – pairing is NarutoxSasuke. I wanted it to be NarutoxSai but Sasuke really wormed himself in. I own a lot of things Naruto-flavoured, but this disclaimer is pointless since we all know who actually owns Naruto._

_**Blinded**_

_Chapter One – Blinded By The Light_

Naruto cursed as he felt several of his clones 'poof' out of existence. He paused against the safety of a tree as his mind caught up with his clones' knowledge and cursed again. The fight was not in their favour. Naruto slammed his hands together in the familiar seal and five more clones burst in to life beside him, already joining the battle as Naruto himself focused on thinking of a plan.

This wasn't how the mission was supposed to go, but then again, when had his missions gone to plan? It was a B ranked mission since Kakashi and Sakura were both jounin, but a fairly simple assignment nonetheless. Tsunade had deemed Naruto capable, as well that it was time for Sasuke to start doing assignments again, and that it would also be worthwhile to have another B mission under their belt with their upcoming Jounin Exams. Their assignment was to deliver a scroll declaring a peace treaty between two cities on the outskirts of the Fire Country. Of course the trouble was the many ninja hired by other cities to stop the treaty since a war would benefit them, and so Team Seven had been ambushed several times during their journey. They had arrived at the city relatively unscathed but it was on their way back to Konoha when they were truly tested.

The treaty had been delivered so they had no reason to be attacked, or so they thought. But angry feudal lords seemed to feel otherwise, cheated out of the opportunity for a ludicrously profitable weapon smuggling business. And so, three days out of the Leaf Village they were ambushed and outnumbered, fighting for their lives. Ten enemy jounin against the four of them. A ninja symbol not even Kakashi recognised, bringing with it the danger of unpredictable techniques.

Naruto shook his head angrily as he felt two clones 'die' instantly. He wanted to join the fight desperately but Kakashi had ordered him in to hiding and using his Kage Bunshin No Jutsu to keep the enemy distracted as the two jounin and Sasuke picked them off one by one. The chuunin felt like a coward hiding in the trees while the others fought, and he was sorely tempted to ignore his sensei's order.

That was before he had glimpsed the raging battle below and saw _exactly_ how useful his clones were being. As in, keeping-his-friends-alive useful. Sasuke and Sakura were fighting back to back, Uchiha's eyes bleeding with Sharingan and the medic-nin's fists flying fast and hard. Kakashi was busy with two ninja, his fight so difficult his forehead protector was pushed up to reveal his own Sharingan. And the rest of the attacking shinobi were dealing with dozens of Narutos in an attempt to reach the centre of the battle.

Still, Naruto thought, why couldn't he fight with his clones? Kakashi's words from earlier answered his question immediately and the chuunin reluctantly agreed

_'If you fight, you'll get distracted and forget to keep up the number of clones. _Don't_ join the fight, Naruto…you're the only thing keeping us alive now. I hate to put so much pressure on you but I don't want to lie and tell you that everything's going to be fine…this is a fight to the death and I'd rather be on the winning side, you know.'_

Naruto smiled as he realised Kakashi trusted and acknowledged his strength to the extent that he would rely on Naruto to keep him from harm. He was immediately dragged from his thoughts as the majority of his clones were destroyed by a high level jutsu, and he formed the required seal instantly to send twenty more in to the thro. Another clone's thoughts quickly returned to him, giving him the information that three enemy nin were out of the fight and that Sakura was injured. He instantly craned his neck to catch a glimpse of his teammate and was relieved to see Sasuke covering for her while she quickly attended to her wound. Within moments the kunoichi was on her feet again, her fists raised as she advanced on who had presumably caused her injury. Naruto caught sight of her expression and almost felt sorry for her opponent. Almost.

Naruto periodically sent out clones, more and often if they were destroyed quickly, and was feeling a sense of smug satisfaction at catching sight of annoyed, angered and even somewhat awed expressions on their enemies. But after being locked in an intense fight for so long, Naruto could see clearly the weariness on his companions…they were reaching their limits with still four enemy shinobi to defeat. He produced a dozen more clones before jumping from his hiding place with a yell, ambushing an unsuspecting ninja with his Rasengan. The ninja slumped to the ground unconscious and out of the fight. The remaining three enemy shinobi backed up together, weighing out their options now that they faced four Leaf ninja and twenty or so clones. Kakashi stood in front of his team protectively as he slipped his forehead protector back in to its usual place, weapons at the ready still. He flicked his gaze over his shoulder, signalling Sasuke with a raised eyebrow. Uchiha smirked in understanding. Yes, they both still had one more left in them.

"Chidori!"

The pair rushed forward, too fast for their targets to react before they had a screeching bundle of chakra slammed in to their chests. A loud cheer erupted from every Naruto in the clearing as two more ninja slid in to unconsciousness. Kakashi and Sasuke stumbled back to the safety of their team, well aware that they were unable to fight at their usual level after using Chidori twice.

_The last of the ambushing ninja jumped away from the group to consider his next move. While the shinobi knew that the young Sharingan user was basically out of the fight, he knew the boy could still inform the others of his movements. He had to inhibit the Sharingan or he wouldn't have a chance. He watched the Leaf ninja watch him as he thought fast on how to proceed, until the perfect jutsu sprang to mind. He smiled. It was brilliant._

Kakashi watched the shinobi carefully, on edge as the man drew his hands in front of him to form a seal.

"Kakashi-sensei, I don't recognise the seal," Sakura whispered, but the older jounin was tense, lifting his hand to his covered eye but knowing he didn't have enough time.

"I don't either. Be ready, team."

Even as Kakashi spoke their opponent pushed the formed seal away from his body and yelled.

"Taiyou Moumoku No Jutsu!"

A blinding flash of light fanned out of the ninja's fingers directly toward Team Seven. Kakashi wanted to scream for his comrades to get out of range, but he had no time, and they seemed to understand anyway. The four Leaf nin threw themselves to the forest floor to dodge the bright light, hearing the 'pop' 'pop' 'pop' of Naruto's clones as they failed to move in time. The ninja halted the jutsu and scowled, forming a one-handed transport seal.

"Fuck this. I'd rather not get paid than _die_," and with a swirl of dust and leaves, he disappeared.

"Well, I think that's enough excitement for the day," Kakashi climbed to his feet, knowing their remaining attacker had fled, and glanced over his team for injuries. "Let's get a good distance away from this location and set up camp, but first let's deal with our battle scars, hm?"

Sakura nodded in agreement and knelt beside the older jounin to tend his wounds, but her gaze flicked to Naruto when he spoke.

"Gah, what happened? It's so dark," he crawled to a sitting position, his eyes darting around the clearing suspiciously.

Idiot, what are you talking about," Sasuke grumbled, sitting up himself to bandage a wound on his arm until Sakura could treat it. "I'd say it's about three hours until sunset. Dark…idiot."

Sakura clicked her tongue before healing Kakashi's injuries. "Naruto, kyuubi will heal your wounds won't he? You could scout the area for a good spot to set up camp or find us some food."

You're starving I bet," she added, smiling fondly as she thought of her friend's seemingly insatiable appetite.

"O-of course, Sakura," Naruto's gaze was aimed at the kunoichi but Kakashi knew something was off.

Before he began to carry out Sakura's request, the masked jounin spoke quietly, his words causing the other pair to stare at Naruto.

"Naruto, something is wrong."

"N-no Kakashi-sensei," Naruto waved the jounin's concern away. "It's fine. It's nothing, really, I'm sure."

Kakashi almost rolled his eyes at the usual show of stubbornness. "No, I don't think it's nothing. Now, how many fingers am I holding up?"

Sakura frowned as their sensei held up four fingers. She didn't get Kakashi at the best of times, and now he was acting weird when she needed to be healing his wounds. She was just about to say as such when Naruto answered hesitantly.

"Um…three?"

Sakura scowled, it was just like him to play along with the man's ridiculous games. "Naruto, don't encourage Kakashi-sensei. We don't have time for this. Honestly, you guys are impossible!"

Sasuke, however, had been watching his teammate carefully, along with Kakashi. "He's not playing games, Sakura. He doesn't know how many fingers Kakashi is holding up."

This, predictably, flared the Naruto's temper. "I do so know! I-I was just playing before. He's, uh, you're holding up, um, t-two fingers..?"

"Naruto! For God's sake," Sakura rolled her eyes, annoyed at how stupid the game was getting now. "He's holding up four fingers. Are you blind or something?!"

The most deafening of silences followed Sakura's comment, causing her to shift uncomfortably and cast a nervous glance at her other companions, searching for reassurance. Kakashi sighed and knelt in front of Naruto, examining the boy's eyes closely.

"Did you get caught in that last jutsu?"

The chuunin shook his head vigorously. "No way! I was on the ground even before Sasuke."

"Hn."

Kakashi understood that to mean Sasuke agreed with Naruto's statement. _But then, how else could he…ooooh._

"Kakashi-sensei, what was that last jutsu?" Sakura asked, fearing she already knew the answer.

"A blinding technique, it appears."

Sasuke frowned. "But he didn't get hit by it. How could he be affected by something that didn't hit him?"

"The Kage Bunshins," their sensei replied simply.

"I don't understand," Sakura furrowed her brow in puzzlement. "They're just clones. Even though they did receive the full brunt of the jutsu, how could Naruto be affected?"

Sasuke was beginning to understand. "Can you see any other way that Naruto could've been affected? Plus, he produces real body clones that have some of his chakra."

"That's right," Kakashi agreed, still looking at Naruto's eyes. "And once the clone is destroyed, the chakra returns to Naruto. I think the chakra was contaminated by the jutsu and its effect built up as each clone's portion of chakra returned to him, causing Naruto to feel the effects of the technique as well."

Naruto grabbed in front of him where he knew Kakashi was, gripping the man by his jacket.

"How can you talk about this so calmly?!" he yeeled, shaking the jounin for emphasis as panic began to set in. "I'm _blind_! I can't see! I can't stay like this! Is it temporary…_oh god_…what if it's permanent?!"

Sakura smacked her teammate over the head firmly before his panic spread to her. "Calm down! Tsunade-sama can probably help you, you know that. She did her best to make sure Lee could be a ninja again remember, so she will do the same for you."

"Idiot, don't get so worked up," Sasuke muttered, but Sakura's words had eased his growing worry as well.

Kakashi, however, wasn't so sure. But he didn't want to disrupt the semblance of calm that the kunoichi had conjured with her promise of the Hokage's aid. And so he agreed, a little guiltily, that yes, it was likely only temporary and Tsunade might be able to do something. He felt small and yet relieved when Naruto smiled shakily at the reassurance, exhaling deeply as he gazed in their direction blindly.

"Thanks guys. It's just a little unnerving not being able to see anything."

Sakura stooped beside her friend and linked her arm in his, pulling him to his feet. "Well don't worry, 'cause we're here to help until Tsunade-sama fixes you up!"

"Sakura's so nice!" Naruto's face split in to a huge grin, causing the medic-nin to giggle and Sasuke to snort rather indelicately; Kakashi took that to mean everyone was much more calm, himself _not_ included.

"Well, we still have to camp tonight, but we'll try to reach the village as soon as we can," he signalled for the others to follow him. "No unnecessary breaks and such, okay team?"

"Wait!" Sakura cried out suddenly. "Sasuke still needs his injuries looked at."

"I can manage. You can heal me when we make camp."

The medic-nin looked to protest but Kakashi agreed and urged them on,. "He's not badly hurt and we really shouldn't hang around here any longer. Let's keep moving."

After twenty minutes of walking, Sakura was at the end of her patience.

"Naruto," she growled warningly. "LIFT YOUR FEET WHEN YOU WALK!"

Naruto jumped, startled by his teammate's yell, causing him to trip again and pull Sakura with him.

"Sorry, but I can't see where I'm putting my feet."

Kakashi signalled Sasuke to stop and walked back to the now quarrelling pair slowly. He thrust his backpack in to Sakura's hands, which made the kunoichi fall quiet, and hoisted Naruto on to his back, which caused the chuunin to yell and wriggle.

"Naruto," Kakashi said firmly. "I'm going to piggy-back you so we can move faster. _Understand?_ Good."

Naruto muttered under his breath as Kakashi continued walking, as did Sakura who was now carrying both Naruto's and Kakashi's pack as well as her own.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter Two edited 9-Mar-2010.**

_**Blinded **_

_Chapter Two – Who Will Help Me?_

After everyone had been healed up, fed and rested the journey back to Konoha was much easier, especially so since Kakashi didn't seem hindered by Naruto's weight. They arrived at the Hokage Tower three days after the ambush as planned, ready to hand in their report. Shizune hurried them in to Tsunade's office where the Fifth was waiting for them at her desk. She smiled at the team, pleased they had returned on time and safely, before her gaze settled on Naruto and her smile widened.

"Brat, didn't get in to too much trouble?"

Naruto darted his gaze around nervously before laughing shortly. "Of-of course not, old hag!"

Tsunade looked a little suspicious at the chuunin's nervousness but Kakashi cleared his throat quickly and folded his hands behind his back. "Team Seven mission report. Treaty scroll was delivered successfully. No friendly casualties. Several ambushes but nothing we couldn't handle. Naruto's blind. The whole of Team Seven performed at a high level aaaaand so the mission was a success."

Tsunade smiled, relieved to hear that such an important mission went well. "Well done all of you. Kakashi, just take your team down to the ground level to receive your payment and…w-wait. Did you say Naruto is…_blind_..?"

Faster than Kakashi could blink, the Hokage had vaulted her desk and was peering in to Naruto's eyes worriedly. She quizzed the Team's leader while she opened her medical supply case, shining a small flashlight in to Naruto's eyes.

"How the hell did this happen? What were you even doing? How long has he been like this? You should've sent one of your summons to inform me!"

Naruto remained uncharacteristically silent and still as the masked jounin attempted to answer the Fifth's questions, only to be asked more.

"A jutsu? Do you remember its name? From what ninja village? Hmm. Can you re-enact the seal? Have you noticed any other symptoms or problems?"

Naruto began to squirm as Kakashi answered what he could, with bits and pieces added by Sakura and occasionally Sasuke.

"S-sorry," the blond whispered dejectedly. "I didn't want to cause a fuss."

"_I'll_ be the judge of that," Tsunade tapped him on the forehead, earning a slight grin, before switching off the small torch in favour of an eye telescope.

"Well, we've had a rather tiring mission so if Naruto's in your capable hands, I'm going to collect my pay and head home," Kakashi left the office with Sasuke and Sakura in tow after Tsunade hinted heavily that it would be better if she examined Naruto without distraction.

After an hour of scans, tests and some attempts at healing with her chakra, Tsunade was at a loss and less than positive, though she made sure Naruto wasn't aware of that. His quiet voice pierced her growing anxiety for his sight.

"So how does it look?"

"I'm sorry but I can't tell you a lot at the moment," she sighed, answering honestly for the most part. "I'll see if I can gather any information about the ninja who attacked you by looking in to their ninja symbol, and that could lead to finding more about the Taiyou Moumoku No Jutsu."

"Is it…permanent?"

The usually exuberant teen sounded so heart-broken that Tsunade was tempted to tell him that everything was going to be peachy, but she took a steadying breath and ruffled the boy's hair.

"I really don't know at this stage. Your sight might just come back in a few days. Or a few weeks. The kyuubi might even be able to heal it for you. It's just too early to say with the little information we have. Try not to worry about it too much, okay, because you know I'm going to do everything I can to help you."

Naruto nodded slightly, forcing a small smile. "There are…blind ninja, right?"

Tsunade looked away from Naruto's face before she bawled in a way most unbecoming of a Hokage. "There are several blind ninja in Konoha but they aren't very common, three are specialist ANBU actually. You…don't have to give up your dream, Naruto. Losing one's sight may be frightening initially, but then you learn to focus on your other senses and become a better ninja because of that…that's what one of the sightless ANBU told me."

Naruto felt the dampness of his tears as he rubbed his eyes, too bitter to feel embarrassed about crying. "No one will want a blind Hokage. And I don't think many people would want to put their trust in a ninja who can't see."

Tsunade pulled Naruto in to a fast loose embrace, tapping him lightly on the forehead again before releasing him just as quickly. That he didn't kick up a stink or try anything cheeky told the Fifth just how upsetting this was to the teen.

"You can't give up, Naruto," she smiled, knowing he would be able to detect her jibe. "That's not your ninja way."

The chuunin barked out a laugh, though it sounded more like a choked sob. "Twisting my words, old hag? Iruka-sensei does that when I try to skip out on the ramen bill."

The Hokage chuckled, easily imagining the academy teacher trying to rein in his amazing temper at Naruto's antics. She quietened immediately as a thought struck her.

"You're going to have to stay with someone or have someone stay with you in the meantime."

Naruto made a face as he swiped away his drying tears. "I don't want to put someone out like that."

"Brat!" Tsunade clipped the boy's head firmly, earning herself a squawk of surprise since he couldn't see it coming. "I think it would be best if someone lived with you for a while, since you know the way around your own apartment."

"I guess," he muttered reluctantly, obviously unhappy about the idea but recognising that he would need help.

"Would you like to sort that out, or I could help you with finding someone?"

Naruto shrugged, already deep in thought. "I thought of Iruka-sensei right away, but he's probably too busy, so I suppose I ought to ask Sasuke or Sakura or something."

"I don't recommend asking Sakura, though she would take great care of you, I know."

"Eh? Why not? She would be perfect, though I probably wouldn't be able to eat ramen quite so often."

Tsunade grinned at Naruto's naivety. "Okay, well think of it this way. Do you think the Harunos would really permit their daughter to stay at your place for several days…_alone_..?"

The Hokage laughed loudly as Naruto blushed to the roots of his hair. "So you understand then, hm?"

"I get it," he muttered, pouting slightly.

"So I suggest you ask one of the boys from the Rookie Nine, or even Konohamaru or Sai. It's a pretty big ask to forego missions these days so I'm willing to treat it as a mission and pay the person."

"Really?!" Naruto brightened exponentially. "That'd make it less of a hassle!"

"It's not a problem," she replied, relieved to see a real smile. "But I want you to visit me every day so we can monitor this and discuss any information I find."

The young chuunin bobbed his head enthusiastically as Tsunade summoned Shizune with a loud yell. "Shizune will escort you until you find someone to accept your mission."

The Hokage's assistant listened carefully as Tsunade relayed what she was needed for and smiled brightly as she hooked her arm in to Naruto's.

"Of course I'll help you out, Naruto," she said happily as she led him out of the Hokage's office. "Who did you want to ask?"

Naruto thought. "Hm, I guess Sasuke. He's my best friend and he'd help me if I really need it I suppose, probably with a lot of grumbling though."

Shizune wasn't quite as keen. "Th-the _Uchicha_ Sasuke? The one who returned after destroying Orochimaru?"

"Yeah! He still lives in his family's mansion in the Uchiha compound. Do you know the way?"

"Yes, of course," the kunoichi answered hesitantly, before directing their path toward the compound.

They hadn't walked more than a few steps from the Tower entrance before someone hailed them.

"Naruto!"

Naruto turned toward the voice, not recognising it from a distance. Shizune smiled. Maybe they didn't have to walk to the Uchiha compound after all.

_Note: Taiyou Moumoku No Jutsu is a jutsu I, uh, made up. My bookmarked online Japanese dictionary tells me it means Sun Blindness Technique in English...in case anyone was curious. But since I'm not fluent in Japanese...I could be very very wrong XD_


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter Three edited 9-Mar-2010.**

_**Blinded**_

_Chapter Three – Enter Sai_

"Naruto!" Sai called again, a little surprised at his friend's lack of acknowledgement.

Naruto's face suddenly cleared. "Sai! Sorry, I didn't recognise your voice straight away."

The ANBU nin was a little puzzled by the strange reply but smiled warmly in a proper greeting to his friend as he drew near. His smile shifted to its usual wide fake grin, reserved for everyone but Sakura and Naruto, as he greeted Shizune. The Hokage's assistant knew somewhat about Sai's behaviour and bowed slightly in return, aware of what she just witnessed when he greeted Naruto.

"Sai, how was your recent mission?" she asked conversationally.

"Very messy," he answered easily.

Shizune grimaced. It always seemed to slip her mind that Sai was rather lacking in tact and other important people skills. She supposed this meant he would speak his mind and not beat around the bush in negotiations and such, but it was still something she wasn't used to.

"So, Naruto, you just got back from a mission? Would you like to eat with me at Ichiraku's?"

Before waiting for an answer, the ANBU thrust a book in to Naruto's field of vision. "This book I'm reading says that it's polite and appreciated for a friend to pay for their friend's meal sometimes. I'll pay for yours today."

Naruto appeared to drool at the thought of free Ichiraku ramen but Shizune interrupted his thoughts with a slight nudge. He scratched the back of his head with a strained smile.

"That would be great, but I actually have to find someone for a mission first."

"Ah, sure," Sai frowned. "But you just got back from a mission."

"Oh, I'm not going on another mission," the chuunin seemed downhearted for a moment. "I probably won't be going on a mission for a while."

Shizune jostled her charge's arm with a low giggle. "Naruto, you're confusing him."

He flushed slightly as he stared over Sai's shoulder. "The thing is, well, on my mission…"

Naruto trailed off but Sai patiently waited for his friend to continue.

"I'm blind."

He stared at Naruto. "Pardon?"

"Yeah, the old hag isn't sure if it's reversible or permanent or what so I need someone to stay with me at my apartment while things get sorted, you know?"

"You…can't see…anything?" Sai asked slowly, invading his friend's personal space to stare more closely at his eyes.

"That's usually what 'blind' means, Sai," Naruto pushed the ANBU away with a light chuckle, having had enough of being examined by the Fifth earlier.

"Is that the mission then? To live with you and care for you while you can't see?"

"Yeah-"

"I'll do it," Sai shoved his book in to Naruto's surprised face again. "The book I'm reading says that a friend helps his friends in any way he can."

Naruto was smiling his real wide grin, and Sai felt rather pleased that he had done that. "Really? Thanks heaps! I don't know how long it will be for, and you'll get paid and everything, but my apartment isn't very big-"

"Naruto! Don't worry," Sai smiled happily. "The book I'm reading says-"

"Yeah, yeah, I _get_ it," the blond rolled his eyes but his grin didn't fade.

"Should I bring some of my possessions to your apartment now? And then afterwards we can go to Ichiraku's?"

Naruto nodded enthusiastically and Shizune smiled as the pair organised what Sai would need to bring.

"Well, I'll let Tsunade-sama know you are accepting the mission, and I now leave Naruto with you," she bowed politely to the ANBU and squeezed the chuunin's arm gently before she returned to the Hokage Tower.

Sai linked his arm with Naruto's as he had seen the Hokage's assistant do and led his friend toward his apartment, which wasn't too far from the Tower. He invited the chuunin in and directed him to a seat while gathering the things he needed.

"Is it okay if I bring my paints and inks?" he asked as he paused by his easel.

"Of course! I know how much you like art and stuff!"

Sai smiled and added his art supplies to his bulging backpack before joining his friend in his small living room again. "I think I have all that I need."

Naruto shrugged. "If not, you can always borrow my stuff or come back here for whatever you forgot. No big deal, yeah?"

The raven shook his head but then remembered that Naruto, of course, wouldn't see that.

"Well then, let's move me in to your place and then go to Ichiraku's, I'm getting hungry."

"YEAH! Me too!"

Sai linked elbows with Naruto again and followed his friend's directions to his apartment. Once inside he saw that Naruto wasn't lying when he had said his apartment was small. It was surprisingly neat and uncluttered but still a rather small living space. Naruto felt his way to his bedroom, calling over his shoulder.

"I'm gonna have a shower and get changed. I don't mind sleeping on the sofa and you can take the bed. The sofa pulls out in to a small bed so it won't be that bad."

"Don't be ridiculous," Sai dropped his backpack beside the sofa and began to inspect it, wondering how it converted to a bed. "I'll take the sofa. The book I'm reading-"

"Yeah, yeah, I _get_ it," the blond laughed, emerging from his room looking a little sheepish suddenly. "Sorry but I can't, um, see my clothes to find something decent to wear."

"Oh, of course!" he slipped past Naruto in to his bedroom, looking around in wonder.

This room was tiny, barely large enough to fit the small single bed, bedside table and tall closet. And the only decoration was the framed photograph of Team Seven in their genin days sitting on the low wooden table.

Sai threw open the closet, staring again in wonder at the pure orange and black that greeted him. Shaking his head quickly, he pulled out a plain black shirt and the blond's usual orange jumpsuit pants, pushing them in to Naruto's hands with a grin.

"Here you go."

The chuunin forced a small smile before heading to the bathroom, bumping his knee painfully against the living room coffee table on his way. Sai returned to figuring out the sofa bed, thinking that it wasn't going to take long for Naruto to not ask for his help…or just explode with frustration and anger at his position. He didn't want that to happen, but he was betting that it was going to anyway, and more likely sooner rather than later. The young ANBU pulled the cushions off of the couch, looking curiously at the folded bed beneath. He spotted three labels, obviously instructions but they didn't make a lot of sense to him. _Maybe I should wait until Naruto gets out…no, he's got enough to worry about. I can do this._ With this last determined thought, Sai began to set up the bed.

X X X X X

Naruto fumbled for the soap in the small shower cubicle, frustrated that it didn't seem to be where it usually was. He ran his hands around the whole of the walls searching for the porcelain soap holder, finding it higher up than he expected. He grabbed the soap and rubbed his skin roughly, taking out his anger on himself. To take his mind off of his growing feeling of uselessness, he thought about the fact that he had dragged an unsuspecting Sai in to his hopeless situation. _Probably better that I did run in to him before I asked Sasuke…Sai has tons more patience._ Though Naruto did wonder how long Sai would put up with him for; he hadn't realised he was going to need so much help. _God, I can't even pick out my clothes. I'm so fucking useless now._ The teen sighed heavily as he turned the water off, feeling around the bathroom for his towel. He had just slipped his fresh set of clothes on when a loud crash echoed from the living room.

"Saaaai! What did you do?" Naruto made his way back to where his friend was, not sure whether he should feel worried or amused.

"Uh...your sofa is broken."

The young chuunin felt his eyebrow twitch. "It wasn't broken before."

"I guess not…I'll replace it though," Sai actually sounded somewhat embarrassed to Naruto, which quelled his annoyance.

"That's right you will!"

"Sorry," he apologised, voice low. "I should've waited for you."

Naruto chuckled as he slowly moved toward his friend. "Don't worry about it, I didn't mean to make you feel bad. But we should probably go couch shopping now before we eat otherwise you're sleeping on the floor."

"Right," the chuunin couldn't help but smile at how relieved Sai sounded. "I will pay for a new one."

"I know you will! You bloody well broke it so damn right you're paying for a new one!" Naruto grinned as he hooked his arm in to Sai's. "Lead on then!"

Sai led them to a large furniture store on Konoha's main street, asking his friend what kind of sofa-bed he wanted. He described a couple to the blond when he saw something he thought Naruto would like. He stopped their perusal of the store beside an orange sofa-bed, describing it to the chuunin.

"No way!" Naruto was excited. "An _orange_ sofa? I didn't think anyone would even make them that colour!"

Sai wrinkled his nose. "I can see why."

Naruto huffed. "It's my favourite colour, so I want this one."

The ANBU nin knew his friend would say this, but the couch was so _hideously_ orange and bright; he knew it was going to look horrible in the apartment. He said as much.

"I don't care, I want this one," Naruto pouted but Sai sighed.

"You'll regret it," Sai explained reasonably. "It will clash with your carpet-"

"I don't care!"

"-and your wallpaper-"

"I don't CARE!"

"-and it will look terrible."

Naruto exploded, his pent up frustration and anger overflowing. "I told you Sai, I don't fucking care! It's not like I'm going to see it anyway!"

The young chuunin was instantly sorry for blowing up at his friend.

"Um, uh…what I mean is-"

"Don't worry about it. I'll buy you the orange sofa," Sai said quietly as he hailed a shop assistant.

"Sai, I-"

But the ANBU ninja ignored him as he organised payment and delivery of the furniture.

Their walk to Ichiraku's was silent. Naruto didn't feel like striking up conversation and Sai seemed to understand. The restaurant was rather full, and the boys were invited to sit with Kakashi who was eating alone. Kakashi didn't seem bothered by Naruto's unusual silence nor did he try to talk him out of his unsocial mood. Instead, after a quick greeting he continued to read his orange book quietly as the boys waited for their meals. The silence at their table was only broken briefly when Naruto muttered a barely audible 'Itadakimasu' as he separated his chopsticks.

He had slurped up the last of his broth when he heard the jounin close his book and rise from his seat.

"Well, Naruto, I'll see you at training tomorrow morning, as usual. Meeting at the Bridge, seven thirty, don't be late."

"Huh?"

"You didn't think I was giving you time off did you? No, this is a great opportunity for you to improve your skills."

"Eh?"

"See ya."

The young teen sat dumbfounded as he heard the jounin leave. He hadn't even thought about his training or how it would be affected. He was certainly glad Kakashi wasn't giving him time off, but he was scared about learning to fight blind. It just made his condition seem so…final. That he really might not recover his sight.

"Well that will be good for you," Sai said after a moment. "I will accompany you, and I can help you train in your spare time, if you want. After all, the book-"

"-you're reading says that a friend helps his friends in any way he can," Naruto finished with a grin before growing serious. "Thank you, Sai."

"It's no problem. Let's get back and set up your new sofa, they would have delivered it by now."

Their walk back to Naruto's apartment was much livelier this time, especially since the boys ran in to Sakura and Ino who gave the chuunin a gift of flowers and chocolates with a 'Get Well' card.

"I'm not sick!" Naruto had huffed but Sakura had only giggled.

"You will be after eating all of those chocolates in one sitting!"

Naruto had to concede this point when he had eaten all of the sweets by the time they returned to his apartment. He sat at the kitchen table with a glass of water, feeling slightly ill, while Sai sweated and struggled to put the new sofa in place.

"There we go," Sai panted. "And look, this one comes with an instruction booklet so I won't break it."

"Good, but if you do, you're buying me a new one."

Sai chuckled and Naruto listened to the sound in wonder. He had never heard the ANBU ninja laugh in the two years he had known him, and the deep chuckle sounded so different from Sai's voice. It was a nice laugh and he wasn't against hearing it again. At the moment, however, his friend was reading a step from the pamphlet, then Naruto would hear him wrestle with the sofa as per the instructions.

"Do you need any help?" he offered, hiding his bubbling laughter at how long it seemed to be taking.

"Yes," Sai admitted reluctantly. "It says that…how did you do that..?"

Naruto felt inside the sofa, discovered that it was exactly like his previous one, and pulled the metal bar that would begin the assembly of the bed. He grinned at the clueless ninja.

"How about you don't touch my couch except to sit and sleep on it?"

Sai sighed but Naruto could hear the smile in his voice. "That seems best."

Naruto sprawled on the now assembled sofa-bed, glancing at where his friend's voice came from. "What time is it?"

"Six o'clock."

"Almost dinner-time," Naruto exhaled contentedly.

"…We only ate not too long ago," the chuunin grinned at the amusement in Sai's voice.

"Sure but I'll be hungry again soon."

"Well, what do you want me to cook?"

Naruto sat up quickly to stare at the other teen. "Cook?"

"Yes, cook," Sai chuckled. "You don't think I'm going to let you starve or, worse, _complain_?"

"Haha, funny," the young chuunin huffed before brightening quickly. "How about instant ramen?"

Sai clicked his tongue. "When Sakura said you only ate ramen, I didn't believe her. No, I'm going to make you something else."

"No, Sai, it's fine," Naruto said quickly. "I'll just make me some ramen when I get hungry. Don't worry about it."

"It's not a problem," the teen said happily as he took stock of the kitchen supplies. "In the book I'm reading, it says-"

The young chuunin sighed exaggeratedly with a grin. "Yeah, yeah, I _get_ it."

"Hmph," he added as Sai bustled around his kitchen. "What _is_ the book you're reading?"

"_Nurturing Friendship Bonds for Dummies_ by I. Needapal," was the light reply.

Naruto sat up quickly, throwing his arms over the sofa's back to stare in to the small kitchen. "Are you serious?!"

Sai's deep chuckle answered him. "No. That was a joke…did you get it?"

Naruto was completely motionless for a long moment, before dissolving in to hysterics.

"You…made a…joke," he managed between escaping giggles. "And it was _terrible_! Which is why it's so funny."

His laughter died down quickly when a delicious aroma tickled his nose. "Mm, what are you making?"

"Hm," the other teen considered. "I think I'll call it Uzumaki Stirfry Special."

A bowl of said dish was thrust under Naruto's nose and he all but drooled over the smell. Sai handed over a pair of chopsticks and the food was gone in minutes.

"Oh. My. God. That was delicious!" Naruto rubbed his stomach appreciatively. "How did you find stuff in my kitchen to make something that tasty?!"

"It was only vegetables, noodles and sauce-"

"_Only?!_ I think I like it more than Ichiraku ramen!"

"You like it that much?" Sai sounded immensely pleased. "There wasn't even any meat in it."

"Wha?! No meat?! If I buy meat will you add that to it?"

"Of course," Sai smiled as Naruto pumped his fist in the air with a yell, but grew serious as he thought about the next day. "You should probably get some rest. Training will be hard tomorrow since it will be your first time without one of your senses."

"Ah, you're right. I'm…a little worried," Naruto admitted.

"Just don't get too frustrated with your team or yourself. It'll be fine."


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter Four edited 9-Mar-2010.**

_**Blinded**_

_Chapter Four – Training With Sasuke Part I_

Naruto rolled out of bed the next morning to set off for training, stumbling sleepily from his room to the kitchen. He, however, forgot the sofa-bed was out and promptly fell over it, cracking his head on the edge of the coffee table.

"Fucking owwww!!"

Sai peeked around the corner of the bathroom door as he was brushing his teeth, wondering what all the noise was about. He choked back a chuckle when he spotted his friend sprawled haphazardly on the sofa rubbing his head. He ducked back in to the bathroom and rinsed his mouth before greeting his roommate cheerily.

"Naruto, I thought you would be up earlier. I put your breakfast in the oven to keep warm for you. I hope you don't mind but I forgot my toothbrush so I borrowed yours. I got a note from Hokage-sama and she wants to speak to me about taking your mission, so I asked Sakura to come around and help you get to training. Well, I've got to head off but I'll pick you up from training at about twelve and we can have lunch, okay? See you later! Don't forget about what we talked about yesterday. Oh, and I laid out some fresh clothes for you on the sofa."

The blind teen listened, gobsmacked and a little scared of Mother Hen Sai, as his friend spoke before transporting with a slight 'poof' to his meeting with the Fifth. Naruto frowned for a moment before jumping to his feet and pointing accusingly at the air with a fierce look.

"You _used_ my toothbrush?!"

Naruto dropped his flailing arms, only to rub his face with a groan. He just _knew_ something would go wrong, Sai had been far too normal yesterday. _But he did make breakfast. _At this uplifting thought, he dived in to the kitchen and opened the oven, sniffing to discover leftover 'Uzumaki Stirfry Special'.

"Okay, you're forgiven," the teen told the empty room as he devoured his new favourite meal in record time.

Naruto changed in to the clothes Sai had left out for him quickly knowing Sakura was on her way, and flew in to the bathroom for his morning routine of splashing his face and brushing his teeth. Only after he had rinsed his mouth out did he remember Sai had used his toothbrush.

"UGH! Sai, you suck!"

He tried to tame his hair, but it was even harder than usual since he couldn't see what sort of state it was in anyway. He gave up and began scouring the living room floor for his favourite nin sandals, which was when his teammate knocked on his door.

"Sakura! Come in!" he called cheerfully from beneath the sofa.

"Naruto!" the kunoichi called with a smile, before she caught sight of the blond on the floor. "…What are you doing?"

"Trying to find my sandals," was the muffled reply. "I know I kicked them off in here _somewhere_."

Sakura looked down to see Naruto's shoes sitting neatly beside the entry. "This pair near the door…they don't happen to be yours…?"

Naruto looked up with a puzzled frown. "What're they doing over there?"

"Probably so you could _find_ them," the medic-nin sighed, wondering how Sai was faring with her teammate. "Hurry up or we'll be late."

Naruto huffed as he slipped his shoes on. "Like it matters, Kakashi-sensei is _always_ late!"

They _were_ late in reaching the Bridge, though this was only because Naruto had put his shoes on the wrong feet. He didn't mind so much but Sakura had said that he could find his own way to the meeting place if he didn't fix it _right now_. And, as to be expected since they were running late, Kakashi was on time.

"You're late," he stared at them over his book as he leaned casually against the railing, Sasuke standing beside him.

Naruto grinned cheekily, how he _loved_ payback. "Sorry, Kaka-sensei, but Sakura had to help a blind fox cross the street!"

The medic-nin giggled and even Sasuke couldn't suppress his smirk.

"I guess I had that coming," the jounin sighed deeply, putting his Icha Icha book away. "Anyway, you all know training is going to be a little different today. Sakura, you and I won't be training. We have a short mission I will fill you in on. Sasuke, you explain to Naruto what you two will be doing."

Kakashi glanced at his watch. "Sakura and I should have finished our assignment by eleven so we will be back then. See you boys later!"

Naruto bid the jounin a cheery goodbye before glancing around the Bridge unseeingly. Sasuke hadn't spoken yet so he didn't know where the other teen was.

"Um, Sasuke?"

Uchiha grabbed his wrist suddenly, startling him in to jerking away. "Bastard! Don't make me jump like that! You could've said something!"

"Naruto," he scowled. "I was going to lead you to the training grounds, but if you think you can find your own way there, then fine."

"Oh…right," Naruto sort of apologised hurriedly as Sasuke took hold of his wrist again. "What does Kakashi-sensei want us to do for training?"

"The Jounin Practicals are in four months," Sasuke answered as he directed his teammate to the training grounds. "He wants us to practice for them."

"Eh?!" Naruto stumbled, not losing his balance completely purely because Sasuke kept him steady. "B-but, but…I can't see!"

"Hn," was Sasuke's substantial reply.

"How am I supposed to take the Practicals if I'm blind?! Can't I just wait a year for the next round? My vision…might've returned by then," he almost pleaded as he was dragged along by his teammate.

"No, we aren't waiting until next year!" Sasuke suddenly stopped walking as his voice rose, shaking Naruto's wrist as emphasis. "We were both genin up until a year ago. We passed the Chuunin Exam easily and if the rest of the Rookie Nine can become jounin then obviously so can we."

Naruto suddenly realised that Sasuke kept saying 'we'; we aren't waiting…we were both…we passed.

"Why do you need me?" he demanded. "You keep saying 'we', so why do you need me?"

Uchiha exhaled loudly as he began walking again, his grip on his teammate's wrist still firm. "Idiot. Don't you ever find out information you need to know?"

"Eh? What do you mean?"

"The Jounin Practicals are taken as a two-person team. Only the theory side of the Exam is done individually."

"Ooooh."

"Kakashi said we were ready to become jounin," Sasuke continued. "I thought we were too, but then this happened."

Naruto didn't need to ask what he meant by 'this'. He flushed and stared at the ground blindly_. I'm keeping not only myself from becoming a jounin, but Sasuke as well. Wait…why should he wait for me? He can find another chuunin to take the Practicals with, surely._

"Sasuke, why don't you find someone else to take the Jounin Exam with? I don't want to hold you back," he admitted reluctantly, knowing his teammate would have been his first choice in any situation to take the Practicals with.

"Idiot," Naruto could hear the smallest of smiles in Sasuke's tone. "I don't want to team up with anyone else."

"But I'm fucking _blind_!" he twisted his wrist from the other teen's grasp angrily. "I can't do the Practical! I'll just drag you down!"

What little tact and patience Sasuke possessed was wearing thin rather quickly. "Yes, you _are_ blind. But we were ready to be jounin _before_ that happened. It's exactly like learning to use a new weapon in battle; you just have to get used to it and build up your skills."

"_You_ aren't the one who can't see, bastard!" Naruto yelled angrily, his fists clenching in anticipation of a physical fight. "You have no idea what the hell this feels like! It's not something you can just 'get used to'!"

"You're right, I have no idea how the hell it feels! But I do know what it feels like to be the _reason_ for your blindness!"

Sasuke's control snapped and he shoved his teammate, feeling a small sense of satisfaction in sending Naruto tumbling to the ground, though this was chased away by instant guilt.

"Bastard! What the fuck was that for?!" Naruto growled as he leapt to his feet again, waiting for Sasuke to speak so he would know where to throw his fist. "And what the hell did you mean by that?!"

"Because it's my fucking fault isn't it!" the raven yelled back. "If I had deactivated my Sharingan that ninja wouldn't have thrown a blinding jutsu at us and you'd be fucking _fine_!"

Naruto paused in the middle of punching Uchiha, his eyes widening with each second as he fully digested what his teammate was saying.

"Knowing that I ruined your dream…your _life_…if your blindness is…permanent?" Sasuke's voice dropped low, hoarse from yelling. "How do I handle that…knowing that _I_ did…_this_..?"


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter Five edited 9-Mar-2010.**

_**Blinded**_

_Chapter Five – Training With Sasuke Part II _

Naruto lowered his fist, not quite sure of what he was feeling. It occurred to him that right now was a good time _not_ to be blind, since then he would be able to not just _hear_ Sasuke. What Uchiha was saying and how he was talking…Naruto didn't have an image of his teammate to match to that. But if he wasn't blind, then they wouldn't be having this conversation. It was a strange circling thought, but it was hardly relevant to what was actually happening. He shook his head as he realised what the other boy was trying to say.

"Sasuke…you feel…guilty?"

"O-of course I do!"

That's when Naruto truly felt displaced. Sasuke was never one to sound anything less than sure of himself, confident; nothing could rattle him. It was a trait Naruto was envious of, but a trait he had grown to depend on in the other teen nevertheless. And now that dependable ground was shaky. If the calm Uchiha was like this, shouldn't Naruto be anxious too? If Sasuke was concerned about his sight never returning, shouldn't he be worried as well? Was everyone downplaying the damage his eyes had suffered? Could Tsunade be unable to help him? Was he really, truly, _blind_?

These thoughts whirled around his mind, confusing him and making him dizzy and sick. He dropped to his knees to stop from falling over, his hands clenched by his side so tightly that his nails dug painfully in to his palms. Naruto had never taken anything for granted after such a turbulent childhood, and this included the things he could see around him. He loved watching the clouds with Shikamaru; he loved helping Ino pick the rainbow of flowers for her parents' shop; he loved the rare colour of Sakura's hair; he loved looking at Sai's paintings; he loved watching movies and people and everything else he could see. Naruto felt tears prick at his eyes, and he lowered his head as they began to fall; a part of him shamed at crying in front of Sasuke, but the rest of him really not giving a damn.

_Blindness. Everlasting blindness._

"God…you're right, Sasuke," the blond murmured brokenly through his tears. "Blindness will ruin my life…sight is everything to me. It's _everything_."

Sasuke made a strange noise, causing Naruto to put aside his emotional turmoil for the moment and wipe the tears away with his shirt. He looked up to where he thought his teammate was standing, more than concerned at the weird sound he produced.

"Sasuke, are you okay?" he asked softly, climbing to his feet. "You sounded like you were choking or something."

"Am _I_ okay? You are fucking _unbelievable_, Naruto. _You're_ the one who's blind and you're asking me if _I'm_ okay?"

Naruto had been thinking that the other boy's voice didn't sound quite right, that it sounded as though…

"What the hell, bastard?!" Naruto demanded angrily, his previous thought completely forgotten. "Was that an insult and a compliment in one?! What the hell?! Anyway, since you aren't asking me if I'm okay, I figure I may as well make sure you're okay! Someone needs to be okay goddammit!"

"Why the hell wouldn't I be okay?!" Uchiha was sounding more like himself by the second, if a little angry.

"Oh, I don't know, maybe because of all that stuff you said before!"

"Hn."

"Bastard."

"Idiot."

"Asshole."

"…Naruto, are you…okay?"

Naruto huffed at the question, caught off guard, but then he sighed. "I…I don't know."

"Well, instead of training, do you just want to spar for today?"

Naruto nodded, it would certainly be less taxing on his emotions than actual training. "But just...taijutsu. No weapons or ninjutsu."

Sasuke agreed, and they continued on their way to the training grounds in silence until they reached the clearing. Naruto dropped in to his fighting stance, a little uneasy.

"Don't be a bastard." _Give me a chance to get used to this._

"Hn." _What do you think I am, a bastard?_

"I mean it, asshole." _I mean it, asshole._

"Fine, fine." _You didn't have to ask, you know._

Naruto thought about what he ought to focus on since he couldn't see. _Chakra seems obvious…but ninja can hide their chakra print so I shouldn't depend on that completely._ He listened as Sasuke stripped himself of weapons, hearing the kunai clatter on the ground loudly. _Hm, sound I could focus on…but again, good ninja are perfect at silencing their movements._ Naruto lifted his head as the smell of the crushed grass beneath his feet reached his senses. _Of course, smell…but still, a good ninja knows how to mask his scent. I suppose the question is, can I focus on all three and still fight…especially if my opponent is trying to mask these things from me? Gah, no wonder Kaka-sensei said this would be a good opportunity for training._

Naruto lifted his head and narrowed his eyes in concentration as he heard Sasuke run toward him. He focused on his friend's chakra, causing his teammate to light up in Naruto's mind. He evaded a right hook, blocked another, jumped over a kick, and then he was on his back, the back of his knees stinging where Uchiha had kicked his legs out from underneath him. He scowled as he jumped to his feet; never would that have happened normally. The teen lifted his fists, signalling to the other that he was ready again. And this was how they sparred. More often than not Naruto was on the ground, dirty and bruised. But he would leap back up and they would start over. He didn't yell, he didn't complain, he didn't scream about the unfairness. He just tried again and again. Their sparring wasn't as strenuous as it usually was, so they continued until Sasuke suddenly stopped.

"Eh, Sasuke?" Naruto panted, confused at the abrupt halt.

"Kakashi-sensei," Uchiha greeted, his breathing rough from the fight.

"Yo," the jounin answered cheerfully. "Sasuke, Naruto, you're supposed to be training."

"We were, sensei," Naruto replied as he leaned his hands on his knees, catching his breath.

"No you weren't," Kakashi's eye crinkled in a smile, causing Sasuke to frown.

"Eh?! Yes we were!" Naruto exclaimed loudly. "Sasuke just stopped suddenly because you came back."

"No, you weren't _training_," the masked ninja repeated, his tone more serious. "I've been watching you two for half an hour or so. Sasuke's been going easy on you."

"Hn," the Sasuke's glare was a mixture of surprise, suspicion and 'well duh, of course I was going easy on him'.

Naruto muttered under his breath, not bothering to point out the oh so obviously obvious fact that he couldn't see right now so it wasn't really a surprise that his teammate wasn't unleashing his full power on him. Instead he lifted his head and glared in the jounin's direction. _What is he getting at?_

"Why were you only using taijutsu?"

Sasuke kept his voice even. "I thought that would be obvious."

"Ah," Kakashi admitted. "It's obvious you don't believe Naruto can handle anything more than sparring."

Naruto didn't really know what to say to that. He knew he had spent most of his time picking himself off the ground, and Sasuke had been going _easy_ on him. Did Kakashi really think he could handle Sasuke's weapon skills and techniques? _Maybe he's the one who's blind. Geez._

Sasuke echoed Naruto's thoughts. "You _were_ watching, sensei, so I assume you saw that Naruto hasn't _quite_ grasped the art of fighting with his eyes closed."

Naruto huffed. _Did he have to say it like that?_

Kakashi sighed deeply. "That's why I told you to traaaaain, hm?"

Both boys glared at the jounin, who laughed a little nervously under their stares.

"Well, okay," he added quickly. "Since I'm back, how about we train? You can take a break, Sasuke, while Naruto and I fight."

"Hn."

"Eh?!"

Naruto heard his teammate settle himself on the ground away from the range of any techniques, a little uneasy at what Kakashi was suggesting. He scratched the back of his head nervously.

"Um, sensei…when you say 'fight', do you mean-"

"Hn, Naruto?" he jerked his head in the direction of Sasuke's voice. "You might want to get ready."

Naruto's heartbeat quickened. "…Wha-"

"Suiton, Suiryuudan No Jutsu!"

"EH?!"

_Note: Suiton, Suiryuudan No Jutsu = Water Element, Water Dragon Blast. If I remember correctly, it's the jutsu Kakashi imitates, and freaks out Zabuza in to believing the Sharingan can, like, see the future or read minds or something._


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter Six edited 9-Mar-2010.**

_**Blinded**_

_Chapter Six – Training With Kakashi_

Sasuke sat in the shade of a tree, watching what could only be described as chaos. He thought a heads-up would give Naruto some idea of what he was in for…but clearly it didn't help in the least. He watched as his teammate screamed around the training grounds blindly to evade Kakashi's Water Dragon; and Uchiha had to admit, whether Naruto meant to or not he was doing a pretty good job. He wasn't sure what Kakashi was trying to prove though with this exercise. That Naruto could escape Kakashi's techniques better when he was blind was a startling discovery, but still a rather useless titbit of information regardless.

Sasuke jumped in to the branches of the tree above him when the jounin suddenly released his jutsu, causing a wave of water to flood the grounds before it trickled back in to the nearby river. He couldn't suppress the smirk that sneaked out when he spotted a soaking Naruto drag himself to his feet. His teammate's head was spinning in every direction to try to pinpoint where he could be in the grounds, and where the masked ninja was. From his friend's body language, Sasuke was more than aware that Naruto was pissed off and frustrated. _Hn, I wonder what would happen if the Kyuubi's power leaked with his blindness._

"Naruto!" Kakashi chided from across the grounds. "You aren't even trying."

"Gah! This is ridiculous!" he retorted angrily. "I don't know how to fight this way!"

"You need to focus! How are you supposed to learn when you aren't focusing?"

"It's all well and good to tell me to focus," Naruto growled, losing some control over his temper. "But what the hell do I focus _on_?!"

"Are you telling me that as a ninja, you only focus on what you can _see_?" Kakashi chuckled softly. "Maybe you really aren't ready for the Jounin Practicals. A true ninja uses _all_ of his senses."

Sasuke frowned. _Hn, that was below the belt, sensei. You want to get him worked up, not even more pissed off._ He seated himself more comfortably on his tree branch…something interesting was bound to happen. It was wrong, he knew, but he hoped his teammate would borrow some power from the kyuubi. Feeling that aura of intense strength emanating from Naruto was a guilty pleasure of his. The pure power and lust for battle would be so thick in the air that it would fill his senses, invigorating and exciting him. Sasuke knew he would always enjoy the feeling of power, and the Nine-tailed Fox was the most powerful of the demons. That Naruto was capable of keeping the fox sealed and at bay was mind-boggling to Sasuke. But he also thought the kyuubi was wasted on his teammate; Naruto had refused to let the demon aid him in any way for the past two years, though some things couldn't be helped like his rapid healing and enormous chakra reserves. However, Naruto was only human, so he would still lose control when pushed far enough. Sasuke shook his head with a scowl. If he had something like that sealed inside of him, his brother would have been long dead. The raven felt guilty immediately. He knew he shouldn't think about these kinds of things, but it was hard when there was a kernel of darkness in his heart. It shamed him that he had picked up a lust for power from Orochimaru; not that the snake Sannin was alive to gloat over it anymore…that being the only reason he even managed to re-enter the gates of Konoha without receiving a death sentence. Sasuke's head jerked up when Naruto yelled.

"Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!"

If Sasuke had thought he had witnessed chaos earlier, this was sheer mayhem. Naruto certainly wasn't the sharpest kunai in the holster, especially with his recent handicap, but twenty Narutos…

"Why the hell did you bring me here for?! Idiot! I can't see anymore than you can!"

"Shut up! I need your help not insults and complaints!"

"What the hell am I supposed to do that you can't?! Idiot!"

"Stop calling me an idiot! Idiot!"

Sasuke blinked. _Did Naruto just call himself an idiot…and then call himself an idiot for calling himself an idiot… …Idiot._ Kakashi seemed to be thinking along the same lines.

"While it's a definite step forward that you are actually attempting to fight back, you are only wasting chakra and energy doing something so useless."

"Shut up!" numerous Narutos yelled, and Sasuke leaned forward slightly.

He was certain the his friend's eyes flared scarlet for the briefest of moments.

"I need eyes," Naruto exhaled slowly with a visible attempt to calm down. "I can't fight right now without eyes."

_Naruto sounds like he's planning something._ And sure enough, Uchiha watched from his perch as his teammate bit his thumb.

"Kyuichose no Jutsu!"

A small 'poof' later and there was a smallish frog sitting comfortably in Naruto's hand. …_I hope he wasn't trying to summon Gamabunta_.

"Hey, bro! What's up, yo?"

"Hey! I need you to tell me where Kaka-sensei is, 'cause I can't see anything right now."

The little frog didn't seem bothered by this statement and merely glanced around quickly as he spoke. "Can't see, bro? Sight isn't the only thing you can use, yo. You got a good nose on ya, and ears…and can't you, like, pinpoint chakra signatures, yo?"

Naruto narrowed his eyes with a scowl. "You sound like Kakashi-sensei."

The summon spotted the masked jounin standing about twenty feet away, watching the chuunin silently. Instead of informing Naruto, he continued to speak.

"Well you are a ninja, yo. And you are you…you ain't gonna let something like this mess wit' ya, yo? You get good at not relying on your sight and you'll be unstoppable…think Zabuza, yo?"

"Zabuza?" Naruto squinted as a few painful memories surfaced. "Sure, he was damn good at fighting with his eyes closed, but he _was_ stopped."

"But you forget…what did he rely on?"

The chuunin frowned in thought. "Sound, his ears."

"Yeah, yeah, and what did Kakashi use to beat him, yo?"

Kakashi himself listened to the exchange with a raised eyebrow. _I'm being out-taught, by a frog no less._ A moment later, he shrugged. _Whatever gets Naruto to get something out of his situation_.

"His summons…tracking dogs. Smell!"

"So bro, using your senses individually might work for you sometimes. But using them together, yo, that's when you're a _real_ shinobi!"

Naruto smirked. "A real ninja, eh?"

"Yeah, yeah. Not many ninja are _real_ ninja, yo. Sight is taken for granted and is a distraction, so few learn to go without it. And so, if you don't need your eyes to fight, what sort of things have little affect on you, yo?"

"Eyes…genjutsu…Sharingan!!" Naruto crowed.

Sasuke had been listening with little interest until then. His eyes widened as he realised the potential advantages that a blind ninja could have. Not to mention that Naruto would become stronger than he and immune to aspects of his Sharingan…which is what he figured his teammate had realised also. _That's not acceptable_.

The little frog shot the masked jounin a victory sign, which was returned with a smug nod. _Oh yeah, he got Naruto hook, line and sinker. _Now _he will take this seriously._ Kakashi watched as the chuunin dismissed his summon and stood completely still with his nose in the air. The jounin knew his chakra signature wouldn't be registering on Naruto's radar and he wasn't making a sound either, so he knew his student would go for scent. Naruto suddenly pointed directly at Sasuke in his observing post.

"Sasuke, you bastard! Rein in your chakra sig! How'm I supposed to focus on finding Kakashi-sensei if you're pulsing out your emo-ness?!"

The masked jounin raised a brow as Uchiha yelled back an insult and suppressed his signature. Sure, the jounin could feel Sasuke's chakra, but he couldn't pinpoint where the teen was purely by that. _And what did Naruto mean…pulsing out emo-ness..? Can he sense Sasuke's mood or emotions to a degree through chakra? That is impossible, isn't it? It seems more likely he was just getting a rise out of Sasuke. _Kakashi focused back on to Naruto. He knew the teen's sense of smell was enhanced through the kyuubi, but by how much? The jounin was about twenty feet away from his student. _A nin-dog could easily smell me from this distance…can you, Naruto?_

Naruto frowned as he tried to sift through the huge array of scents tickling his nose. Even though Sasuke had suppressed his chakra, he could smell his teammate due to their earlier sparring – dirt mingled with sweat and a tad of blood. He scowled. _That bastard's getting in the way again!_ He tried to block Sasuke out and concentrated on the other smells in the area. _Crushed grass…overturned earth…water…patch of wildflowers…hint of spicy musk and sweat…mud._ Naruto honed in on the human scent. It was definitely not Sasuke since it was too close. He tried to gauge the distance but that was virtually impossible. _There must be some way to figure out how close he is._ Shifting his head as he sniffed, Naruto knew Kakashi was to his immediate left_. I could probably head towards the scent, but I still wouldn't know how far I had to go._

"Kaka-sensei," Naruto said finally. "I'm sure I can smell you, but I don't know how to work out how far away you are."

The jounin used a voice projection technique so he didn't give away his location. "That is one disadvantage to relying on sense of smell alone. You need a visual reference…or something else. There are numerous ways around the problem."

Naruto mulled this over. He knew in which direction Kakashi was situated exactly, but not the distance. If the jounin made a sound the chuunin would be able to pinpoint roughly the location. _But he's not moving or making any noise._ Naruto smirked suddenly. _Make him!_

Kakashi's visible eye widened as Naruto threw a kunai toward him with deadly accuracy. He blocked it with a knife of his own, wincing in realisation at the clinking sound it made but didn't move. Naruto's head snapped toward the sound and he closed in on his sensei. _That sounded close. He can't be more than maybe twenty-five or so feet away._ About two metres in front of the jounin, Naruto paused.

"How close am I, sensei?"

Kakashi smiled happily. "Well done, Naruto. You performed better than I expected."

Sasuke dropped out of the tree to land beside his teammate, who flicked a quick glance at him to indicate he could feel him there.

"Once I started to really focus, it was easier than I expected!" Naruto grinned as he rubbed the back of his neck, pleased with himself.

Sasuke turned to their sensei. "Shouldn't he be learning how to fight with me?"

"Ah, for the Practicals," Kakashi nodded absently. "Soon. Naruto needs to improve on his own first."

Uchiha glared. "Does this mean I won't actually be training for a while? I didn't get to do anything today."

"Hey!" Naruto interrupted. "We sparred earlier!!"

Sasuke curled his lip. "With the way you were throwing punches, as if that even counted."

Naruto looked stunned for a moment, causing Sasuke to feel a slight stab of regret at the cold comment since it was he who had suggested the spar. But then his teammate's expression hardened as he opened his mouth to retort.

"Naruto!"

The three ninja turned toward the voice. Kakashi smiled as he reminded his students to meet at their usual spot tomorrow at eight before transporting. Naruto greeted Sai happily while Sasuke stood beside his teammate with a scowl. He usually made some attempt to suppress his dislike for the ANBU ninja in Naruto's presence, though now he made no such effort since he was blind. Sai either didn't notice or didn't care, and linked arms with the his friend as Naruto proudly relayed what he had achieved during training. Uchiha frowned at the physical closeness of the two ninja. It bothered him. And why was Sai even here?

"Why are you here?"

Sai finally looked at the other teen with a slightly raised brow, not bothering to grace the once defected Uchiha with a fake smile. They had never liked each other. Sai often wondered if it was because they were somewhat similar, but didn't care anyway. Uchiha Sasuke wasn't a person he liked; the feeling was mutual, and that's all there was to it in his mind.

"He's here to help me," Naruto answered for the ANBU briefly before continuing his account.

Sasuke stood there for a while with nothing to do. He felt a little awkward and out of place; usually Naruto would be talking to him, yelling at him, glaring at him, punching him, insulting him, teasing him. But right now Sasuke's presence didn't appear to be registering. It was a strange situation for him, not having Naruto's attention, and his dislike for Sai increased. _He's stealing that idiot from me._ Sasuke mentally slapped himself for that embarrassing thought. Yes, he and Naruto were friends, even after nearly killing each other. Best friends if he was painfully honest. In Sasuke's case, Naruto was nearly his only friend. And that's why Sai's closeness to his teammate bothered him…Naruto was happier talking to Sai…was he being replaced? Sasuke scowled.

"I'm your teammate. I can help you get home, Naruto."

Naruto paused and stared in his direction for a moment, a flicker of surprise mingling with something unrecognisable on his face.

"Uh no, it's okay. Sai's staying at my apartment for a while."

Sasuke wasn't expecting that, and it must have shown on his face since Sai chuckled. He narrowed his eyes at the ANBU. How much this whole situation was bothering him bothered Sasuke further. He just always assumed Naruto would be there and now he was faced with the reality that this wasn't the case at all. _And Sai of all people. Why him?_

"You should probably visit the Hokage for a check up though. I'll come with you and you can meet Sai at your apartment," Sasuke's eyes never left Sai's as he spoke.

Sasuke smirked with victory as Naruto uttered an 'Oh yeah, I forgot about that', but it quickly disintegrated in to a burning glare.

"Well you could do that if you wanted, Naruto," the ANBU nin began. "But I thought you would be hungry so I told Hokage-sama that we would visit this afternoon after lunch."

The Naruto's face lit up instantly. "Lunch! Yeah! I'm starved! Later, Sasuke!"

Sasuke watched with little expression as the two ninja headed toward the centre of the village arm in arm. He sat down where he stood, wondering what the fuck had happened when he hadn't been paying any particular attention. Had Sai and Naruto always been such apparently close friends? It was hardly surprising, really, since the ANBU ninja had been there for Naruto during Sasuke's AWOL years. _How much have I lost to that smug bastard?_ He forcefully pushed from his mind that he had taken Naruto's loyalty to him for granted as he climbed to his feet again. Since no one would know, Uchiha thought it would be okay if, just this once, he admitted in his mind that the moronic loud idiot was one of the few things of value to him...the other 'things' being Kakashi, Sakura, his clan emblem and his katana. _But my katana isn't being carried off by Sai. _Sasuke found his thoughts highly embarrassing at the moment, but he came to the conclusion that if Naruto was capable of going to such lengths to bring him back to his home village, then Sasuke could at least make some sort of effort to ensure... _To ensure what..?_ _To ensure the bond I tried so hard years ago to sever is never brought close to being broken? What kind contradiction am I?_ Sasuke scowled at nothing in particular. _The stupid kind...Naruto's clearly rubbing off on me._

_Note: I'm sure a lot of people know that Kyuichose no Jutsu = Summoning Technique and Kage Bunshin No Jutsu = Shadow Clone Technique but this is just in case :P_


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter Seven edited 9-Mar-2010.**

_**Blinded**_

_Chapter Seven - Tsunade Interfers...Slightly_

Naruto sat on the Hokage's desk quietly, thinking. Sai knew he would be with the Fifth for about an hour and had excused himself, using the time to visit the library.

"You're rather quiet," Tsunade commented lightly as she finished a general check-up of the chuunin.

"Mmm," Naruto replied distractedly, but offered nothing further.

He was thinking about the short conversation between, Sai, Sasuke and himself. Thinking about the oddness that was Sasuke. His teammate had never been an easy one to read and, at times, understand. But without a visual image of Uchiha's expression, Naruto was finding it hard to gauge his teammate even more. And how could Sasuke be a complete bastard one moment, and be offering to help him the next?

This was one of the tougher aspects of being blind, Naruto thought; he hadn't realised how much he relied on people's expressions to understand them. Especially Sasuke who, the young chuunin thought, had the vocal expression range of a log. Sure his facial expressions weren't that much better, but Naruto had learnt that it was all about the Sharingan user's eyes and the fierceness of his scowl or smirk; something he would never have learnt if they hadn't spent as much time together as they had being in the same team. Though, Naruto thought, maybe he wasn't giving his teammate enough credit…he could definitely tell if Sasuke sounded angry, bored, indifferent or amused. However that was hardly helpful since he had enough experience dealing with Sasuke to know that something like an angry tone could be negated by an amused smirk.

"What are you thinking about, brat?" Tsunade finally prodded the teen again. "I've practically finished your check-up and you've barely said anything."

"Oh," Naruto jerked slightly, startled out of his thoughts. "I just never really noticed how much I depend on people's faces to tell me what they're thinking and what they mean, y'know?"

"Ah," the Hokage nodded, understanding. "It's easier to lie with your voice than it is with your expression, so humans naturally focus more on faces and body language."

"That doesn't make me feel better at all, old hag!" Naruto grouched. "I hadn't even thought about how people could _lie_ to me _better_!"

"Haah, that wasn't my intention to bring that to mind, but now that you've mentioned it…you will need to be more careful in that regard."

"Huh?" Naruto frowned. "How am I supposed to know if someone isn't being straight with me if the only thing I can go by is their voice?"

"It is particularly challenging," Tsunade conceded as she began to pack away her instruments. "Especially so with people you don't trust or don't know very well. But your friends and team have no reason to hide anything from you."

Naruto hummed noncommittally, causing the Hokage to frown slightly. "What made you wonder about this?"

"Sasuke. He's difficult to understand at the best of times, but today…"

"Right then," the older ninja settled behind her desk comfortably, watching the teen. "There's nothing to discuss about your condition so let's talk about whatever has you wondering about your teammate. Maybe I can help you figure it out?"

"Jeez, you do anything to get out of work," Naruto laughed despite the smack upside his head, frowning a moment later as he tried to recall what had been said. "I don't remember much of what we spoke about before we started sparring…except Sasuke saying something like…um, something about ruining my life and my dream. I suppose he was talking about becoming Hokage."

_Really…_ Tsunade's eyes widened at this sneak glimpse in to the Sasuke only Naruto seemed to know.

"Do you mean…he feels responsible for your loss of vision?" she probed, intrigued beyond merely helping the teen understand.

"Yeah," Naruto replied slowly. "I asked him if he felt guilty."

The female Sannin didn't understand. "Why would he feel responsible? None of you could have foreseen your enemy using such a technique."

Naruto's voice fell rather quiet as he continued. "I got a bit upset after that. I think I may have made Sasuke feel worse 'cause he sounded a bit funny."

_Funny..?_ Tsunade didn't get the chance to delve further in to that rather cryptic description since the teen was talking again.

"But what _is_ bothering me is when Sai came to help me out after training. That bastard was a real bastard! Not a moment earlier he was complaining to Kaka-sensei about not getting any training because of me and saying that our spar was hardly training at all…and then when Sai comes to help me, Sasuke was all saying he could help me because we're teammates. And I was like, what the fuck?! He had just been a total prick, and now he's offering to help me out?! So I says that that's not necessary since Sai's living with me and helping me, and you should have felt that bastard's chakra then! He must've been super mad at me brushing him off like that 'cause his sig was burning y'know? Me and Sai went and had ramen then. I would've asked Sasuke if he wanted to come but he had been a real prick to me. God, he makes me mad sometimes!"

Tsunade was an excellent ninja, especially so since she was letting Naruto's unrefined language slip without punishment just this once. She was good at reading underneath the underneath; and that's what she was trying to do right now with Naruto's heated and often confusing explanation of the earlier conversation. The Sannin didn't know the young Uchiha particularly well, but she knew of his and Sai's mutual dislike. Did the clan survivor resent Sai helping his teammate? But that didn't make a whole lot of sense to the Hokage. Aiding a blind Naruto must surely register as an inconvenience and little more, regardless of their rivalry and friendship. Wouldn't Sai helping Naruto be a relief? But this wasn't particularly important to Tsunade when something much more odd and intriguing grabbed her attention.

"What did you mean when you said that you could feel Sasuke's chakra signature burning?" she asked, pretending only vague interest. "Do you mean as in when you can sense a ninja nearby, or recognise someone's signature?"

"Yes and no," Naruto waved his arms around in an attempt to clarify. "I can just feel what that bastard is feeling sometimes from his chakra signature, like if he's really angry or frustrated."

"Are anger and frustration the only emotions you sense from him?"

"Course not! It's like having something else to check against to figure him out…like an expression he can't hide…I suppose."

_How incredibly interesting…_

"And you can sense Sasuke's feelings all the time?"

"Well obviously if I'm not sort of near him like physically. And not when he suppresses his chakra. But no, not all of the time."

Tsunade knew Naruto was going to become suspicious about her questioning of this particular topic if she prodded him any further but she pressed on regardless. "And does Sasuke know you can identify his emotions in this way?"

The young chuunin wrinkled his nose. "I guess so. I mean I yell at him about it sometimes 'cause it can be hard to focus when his anger and emo-ness is leaking out everywhere, y'know? Hey, are we finished? Sai should be back soon."

The Hokage had barely registered the abrupt change in topic when Shizune knocked at the door politely before leading Sai in to the office. After a flurry of action, in which Naruto managed to attach himself to Sai and bid goodbye to Tsunade and her assistant until tomorrow, Tsunade was finally alone with her thoughts. She wouldn't have been so interested in Naruto's insight in to Sasuke's surface emotions if it wasn't so rare. Not uncommon in that it didn't happen often, since the female Sannin could name several ninja in Konoha who have the same sort of insight in to a fellow ninja's chakra; it was unusual in the fact that the phenomena existed _at all_ between the two boys. Tsunade would have understood if it was Sasuke who could read Naruto's emotions through chakra, but this wasn't the case.

Such a connection, Tsunade recited to herself, was the result of a deep bond that could never be severed; and a ninja would unconsciously open themselves to this special comrade. Which is why she was extremely surprised to learn that it was _Sasuke_ who viewed the bond between he and Naruto as deep and everlasting, since it was _Sasuke_ who had opened the connection; though Tsunade suspected the teen had no idea of the way he had dropped his guard for his teammate. The new information that Sasuke valued Naruto to such an extent made her think of the once defected Uchiha in a different light. It also threw a new angle on Naruto's vague description of Sasuke's reaction to Sai's aid.

Sasuke, Tsunade realised, perceived the ANBU ninja as a threat. She didn't know whether to find this hilarious or alarming due to the fact that if Sasuke and Naruto shared such a deep bond of friendship…why would he view Sai that way? Unless, she answered herself immediately, unless Uchiha wasn't confident about the strength of Naruto's side of the bond. But again, Tsunade didn't know whether to laugh or sigh at this thought; had Sasuke suddenly forgotten how diligent and committed Naruto had been in bringing his teammate back home? What he had put himself through to rescue his friend? And since when were Uchihas not confident?

"It's none of my business," the Hokage muttered to herself eventually, admittedly grudgingly.

…_But that doesn't mean I'm not going to watch to see what happens...and maybe intervene a little._

"Shizune!" Tsunade suddenly screamed.

No matter how many times her assistant came bursting in to her office with a kunai drawn, it never failed to amuse the Sannin. Her smirk fell off her face when Shizune's wary expression morphed in to a scowl. Okay, the Fifth thought, maybe five times a day was the limit.

"I need you to do something for me," she explained quickly, relieved that her assistant seemed somewhat mollified by this. "Can you tell me if there are any A rank or higher missions that haven't been completed or assigned to any ninja as of yet?"

"Let me check, Hokage-sama," Shizune bowed slightly to excuse herself before leaving.

Tsunade sighed contentedly as she retrieved a half-empty bottle of sake from her desk drawer. She supposed she could've found out the information she had sent her assistant to discover herself, but what was the point of being Hokage if she couldn't palm off her work to her subordinates? _Not that what I'm doing could really be described as work._

Shizune returned a few moments later, frowning at the sake bottle before speaking.

"The only high rank mission still available is a B assignment escorting a feudal lord to his wedding in Grass Country."

"Why is _that_ a B rank mission?"

Tsunade wasn't entirely sure if she really wanted to know. She was well aware that many of Konoha's more wealthy clients would purchase a rank above what their situation required…something that irked the Fifth to no end since it often left her with pissed off genin gardening or cleaning. Hardly work to challenge and hone their skills.

"Uh," Shizune checked her clipboard of information, grimacing at what she read. "There's a note here about jealous suitors of the princess he is to marry sending mercenaries and ninja to prevent the wedding from taking place."

"Haaah, well I guess if that's true than the rank can't be helped. We will have to send a team then."

"Since we can't send Kakashi's team on any missions at the moment, I assume you want to send a chuunin team-" at the Hokage's nod Shizune continued "-and that leaves Team Eight, though they will still require a cell leader."

_Perfect._ Tsunade sighed heavily as though she had reached her decision after a lot of thought.

"I suppose we'll have to assign Sai then."

Shizune appeared horrified by the suggestion. "B-But Sai is assisting Naruto! We could send Kakashi instead-"

"Not possible," the Hokage interjected, hiding her glee. "He and Sakura have been doing minor jounin assignments. It'll have to be Sai."

"Okay," her assistant agreed hesitantly. "But who will you replace Sai with?"

Tsunade rubbed her chin in a charade of mulling over available and suitable candidates before waving her hand lazily. "Send Sasuke a message detailing his new mission."

"What?! _Uchiha _Sasuke?!"

Tsunade frowned at her friend and assistant. "Yes _Uchiha_ Sasuke. Do you know any other Sasukes in our village?"

"Well no," Shizune replied hurriedly. "But-"

"Then send _Uchiha_ Sasuke a message detailing his new mission."

"O-okay."


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter Eight edited 9-Mar-2010.**

_**Blinded**_

_Chapter Eight – Sasuke's New Mission_

Naruto lay sprawled on his new favourite bright orange sofa. Of course he couldn't see the colour, but he knew it was a pretty damn comfy futon. He had, of course, pushed Sai's blankets and possessions to the floor, but his friend wouldn't get angry about it…Naruto assumed. Sai had been called to see the Hokage and still wasn't back yet, so he was restless and bored. He tried watching television for about a minute, but it became far from interesting rather quickly since he couldn't actually _watch_ it. Naruto jumped, startled by his front door suddenly bursting open.

"Sai?"

"Sorry, Naruto," the ANBU nin apologised as he whirled around the room collecting his things. "I've been assigned to a mission."

"Haaaah?"

"Hokage-sama is sending someone over now to help you since I won't be able to. She didn't mention a name though so I can't tell you who to expect."

"What?! Oh. Well, that kinda sucks," Naruto grumbled. "I bet who ever it is can't cook as good as you."

Sai smiled, hoisting his full backpack to his shoulder. "I'm sure you will survive. I have to go now though."

"Right," the blond scratched the back of his head with a small smile, somewhat embarrassed. "Thanks for your help, Sai."

"It wasn't a problem. My mission sounds rather amusing, so I'll tell you about it when I get back."

Naruto grinned widely. "Good luck then!"

The ANBU ninja called a farewell over his shoulder as he left, leaving the teen alone again. He sighed heavily as he flopped back on to his futon, not so much wondering who was replacing Sai as lamenting that he'd been a great help and who could possibly be better? Naruto jerked upright again as his door was slammed open for the second time, though much more forcefully.

"What the hell, Sasuke?!" he growled. "Do you think just because I'm blind I'm suddenly deaf as well?! You can _knock_, y'know!"

"Naruto, shut up. Why are you always so noisy?"

The question was clearly rhetorical, so Naruto ignored it and instead continued to gripe.

"What the hell are you doing here? And seriously, why the fuck didn't you knock?"

"Tsunade sent me," he replied, his tone hovering close to pissed off. "And I didn't knock since I knew you were home and you knew someone would be coming and what would be the point of you stumbling across the room to let me in when I am quite capable of opening your door myself."

Naruto dropped the fist he had been shaking in Sasuke's direction. "...Oh."

He heard a clank as his new temporary roommate set his backpack on the table. _So Sasuke's meant to be helping me…well haven't we got off to a flying start, what with yelling at him as soon as he set foot in my apartment._

"What the _hell_ is that?"

Naruto frowned. "You'll have to be more specific."

"Right," Sasuke began again. "What the _hell_ is that that you're sitting on?"

Naruto's temper flared again. "This is my new futon that Sai bought me, bastard!"

"But it's so…disgustingly _orange_."

"Fuck, you don't have to like it, do you?! It's mine after all!" Naruto scowled, his teeth bared. "You can use my bed and I'll sleep here, geez Sasuke!"

Sasuke appeared to find this arrangement satisfactory since Naruto heard his teammate grab his bag and dump it in the bedroom. He sizzled silently on the futon, not daring to open his mouth again since he knew he would only yell at Uchiha for something. Instead he flicked the tv on, glaring at it but not listening to it. He felt a hand wrap around his wrist and jerked away instantly on instinct.

"Will you stop doing that every time I touch you?!"

Naruto felt the familiar rush of irritation from Sasuke's chakra, feeling a slight twinge of guilt but saying nothing. The room seemed to be very quiet, and it took him a moment to understand why.

"HEY!" he yelled, forgetting Sasuke was right next to him. "I was watching that!"

"Ah _fuck_, why do you have to be so noisy! And no, you weren't watching that."

"Yes I-"

He cut himself off as a hand grabbed his arm again. Naruto jerked away a second time on impulse before realising his mistake. He felt Sasuke's chakra flare and burn with anger and…something else. But it was only the fury Naruto was conscious of when his teammate finally raised his voice.

"Why do you always do that?! You don't pull away when Sai-" he spat the ANBU ninja's name venomously, but cut himself off as suddenly as he started.

Naruto didn't reply. In any case, he didn't know what to say…Sasuke furious at him for not being more close mates wasn't something he was expecting. _Ever_. Nor could he remember the last time he had felt Sasuke this angry at him. Naruto listened as his teammate took a quiet steadying breath, still feeling somewhere between gobsmacked and shocked.

"Look," Sasuke began, his voice even. "I just wanted to give you something you could use."

The clan survivor grabbed his teammate's wrist roughly, apparently expecting him to pull away again, before pushing something in to Naruto's hand. Naruto frowned as he felt the object – a box of some kind.

"What is it?" he asked, curious.

"Open it, but be careful, idiot," Sasuke warned as Naruto fumbled with the lid. "It's a special kunai."

"Special?" Naruto decided to ignore the insult; his curiosity getting the better of him.

He lifted the knife out of its box by the handle cautiously, but it was a different shape from common kunai. He carefully traced the weapon with his fingers, discovering it to be a wide U shape with both ends sharpened, the handle in the middle.

"Well it's definitely a weird shape," he commented as he held the kunai the way he imagined he would fight with it.

"It's made that way for two techniques of using it," Sasuke informed him. "It's good for close-range fighting like any other knife, but you can embed your chakra in it before you throw it during fighting from a long distance, and it will boomerang back to the hand you threw it from."

Naruto touched the knife with wide eyes. "Wow, Sasuke. Thanks!"

"Hn," he was clearly not pleased with what he had to go through to present the knife. "It's was a weapon especially made for my clan."

"What do you mean?"

"If the Sharingan is used too much the user can be permanently blinded, so we need a weapon we can use whether we possess sight or not," Sasuke explained patiently.

Naruto's eyes widened as he held the kunai out for his teammate to take back. "Then you should keep this, Sasuke! You know, just in case."

"You really are an idiot. These kunai aren't necessarily common but they aren't rare either; I have several of my own so I figured it would be fine if I gave you one to use."

"Oh, well, I'll have to learn how to use it properly so I can take it with me to the Jounin Practicals," Naruto placed the kunai back in to its box carefully before leaning forward to store the box on his coffee table.

The pair sat in silence then, causing Naruto to fidget as he thought of how to apologise without actually saying 'sorry'. He certainly hadn't expected Sasuke to be bothered by their non-closeness but now that he thought about it more, jumping away from his teammate every time he tried to help him would be rather irritating. _He just surprises me is all_, Naruto thought, _it's not like he's ever needed to really touch me before except to fight or help each other after exhausting our chakra_.

"Uh, Sasuke," he started, hating the silence. "I don't mean to pull away when you grab my wrist. I just don't expect it 'cause, you know, we've never really touched each other like as friends would since, I don't know, we just aren't like that and you know that. Gah, I sound so gay right now. What I mean is-"

"I know what you mean," and Naruto just knew his friend was rolling his eyes. "I just thought it was odd that you don't seem to care or think about being close to Sai in that sort of way. Fuck, now I sound gay. What I mean is-"

"I know what you mean," Naruto grinned before continuing more seriously. "I don't know. It's nice to show my friends that I care about them and like them without actually saying it. Sai doesn't mind but you and I are different from Sai and me, y'know? I've seen how your face scrunches up when Ino and Sakura hug you, and I can just tell you're itching to Katon Gokyaku No Jutsu their asses! _I_ don't want to be set on fire!"

Sasuke snorted. "Those girls don't hug me…they _attack_ me."

Naruto laughed, glad that the uncomfortable tension had dissolved with their familiar banter. "Haah, they're no where near as bad as they were when we were genin."

Sasuke agreed. "I don't get them."

Naruto sobered suddenly, his mouth not consulting his brain like it ought to and usually forgot to. "So you wouldn't mind it then as long as it wasn't a mauling attack?"

"Hmph, they would never _not_ give me a non-mauling attack under the superficial guise of a hug."

"What, like this?"

And before Naruto could think too much about it, about the inevitable punch in the face that would await him when Sasuke realised what was happening, he launched at his teammate sitting beside him and wrapped an arm around Sasuke's shoulders, pulling him toward his own body almost as though he were going to noogie him.

Sasuke stared at what now filled his vision, his brain moving far too sluggish to merit his genius status as it struggled to catch up with the last few seconds of activity. He couldn't quite understand why he was staring at Naruto's chest through his dark bangs, until he felt the weight of an arm across his shoulders, effectively pinning him in a strange combination of a half-hug half-headlock. _Naruto is hugging me._ Sasuke's first reaction upon this realisation was to seize up. Years of Sakura and Ino related closeness had instilled the knowledge that if he stiffened and was still long enough, the girls would forget about him and begin to argue, which would proceed to a fight. This would result in being released as the two kunoichi settled their rivalry, allowing time for the clan survivor to silently disappear. But, Sasuke's mind calmly told him, he wasn't being smothered by pink and breasts. In actuality, he wasn't being smothered at all and that was rather unfamiliar…though not unwelcome, he admitted to himself eventually. He certainly hadn't expected their conversation to move from an argument to the rare occurrence of a civil and somewhat meaningful exchange to familiar teasing ground…to hugging. And now that it had, he wasn't altogether sure what to do. Sasuke was fairly certain the time had passed where he could play it off by pushing Naruto away with some kind of nonchalant comment. Yes, fairly certain that time had passed about two minutes ago. That the other teen hadn't done the same thing was equally perplexing.

What finally made him move was what Sasuke realised was keeping him in their current position; he liked being so close to his idiotic teammate. Sasuke wasn't altogether shocked by this revelation; in reality, he told himself, it explained a great deal. Especially his dislike of Sai. So with this realisation Uchiha slowly sat up, dislodging Naruto's arm around his shoulders as he moved. He was, quite frankly, thankful for his teammate's blind state considering he had no idea what sort of expression he was wearing. But Naruto seemed to possess the uncanny ability of knowing what he was really feeling anyway so did it matter greatly how much his mask dropped around him? Sasuke was saved from his thoughts when someone knocked on the door.

"Wonder of wonders," Naruto began, his voice containing an edge that suggested he was trying a little too hard to sound normal. "Someone in this village actually knocks. Come in!"

Sasuke shifted a good distance away from his teammate just before Sakura entered. She smiled brightly at both her friends as she took her sandals off.

"Hello Naruto! Sasuke!"

"Sakura! How was your mission with Kaka-sensei? Did you get to do anything really cool?"

Sakura giggled as she squeezed on to the futon between her teammates, launching in to a conversation with Naruto easily. Sasuke sat quietly, content to listen to his two friends chat for what could stretch out to be over two hours. He thought it odd that two people who see each other nearly everyday could still have so much to talk about. Occasionally he would add something by way of a jibe at Naruto or a question about Sakura's latest jounin missions, but for the most part he was satisfied listening to them chatter. When the medic-nin began a detailed plan of a surprise birthday party for Ino, Sasuke tuned out completely to watch the sun dip lower through the small window above Naruto's tv. He didn't much like the sun during the day, but he thought it quite brilliant when it disappeared over the horizon; the sky colouring orange, red, pink, purple, and finally the dark blue of night as a backdrop to the faraway stars the sun hid during the day. Sasuke hadn't noticed he'd moved to watch the sun properly through Naruto's window until Sakura asked him what he was doing.

"Watching the sunset," he replied at length, seriously considering not answering her at all.

He foresaw the kunoichi's gushing about how romantic he was, and quickly pinned her with a look that silenced her before she began. However, Sasuke had apparently forgotten how much Sakura had grown up, since she only shook her head with a smile knowingly.

"Mm sunsets are nice," she began, smile still in place. "But I prefer sunrises. Well, when I'm awake to enjoy them anyway."

Sasuke turned back to watch the brilliant colours cross the sky but faced his friends almost immediately when Naruto spoke.

"I've never watched one or the other before," he said wistfully, his unseeing gaze away from his teammates. "Sure, I've _seen_ them but never really _watched_…and appreciated, you know?"

Sasuke exchanged a glance with Sakura, somewhat calmed that she looked as uncomfortable as he felt about the sudden foray in to the barely touched but hardly avoidable topic of Naruto's sight...or lack thereof. It didn't help that he felt fully responsible for his teammate's disability.

"Well," Sakura managed, squeezing Naruto's hand briefly before injecting a cheery tone to her voice. "You'll never be functional enough in the morning to register a pretty sunrise. The earliest you ever had to get up was when we had to do Kaka-sensei's stupid survival training on our first day as genin. I honestly don't know how you got to the meeting spot! You were practically sleepwalking!"

Sasuke snorted, remembering quite clearly how Sakura had been almost as bad. Clearly, neither of his friends were morning people, and this had become abundantly obvious with every passing mission. Though Sakura had gotten better at functioning at any hour, Uchiha acknowledged, since she was often called in to the medical centre at any time, night or day. He did realise that the kunoichi was trying to direct Naruto's thoughts away from falling in to despair, but didn't quite know how to help. Instead he gave her a slight nod to continue, which he deemed as encouraging. Truth be told his nod looked like any other, but Sakura had always been intelligent.

"My god, you were like a zombie!" she continued, warming up to teasing her friend, who protested weakly. "We waited there for like three or four hours for sensei and you were virtually asleep on your feet! Geez, if I had known you were _that_ quiet that early _every_ morning, I would've pushed for training to be scheduled for four a.m!"

"Saaaakuraaaa, that's just being nasty! No sane person gets up for training at _four_!"

"Gai-sensei gets his team up that early for training."

"…Like I said, no _sane_ person…"

The pair giggled and quickly fell in to a discussion of what the score was in regard to Kakashi and Gai's rivalry, the last confrontation being won by the latter since the former had been far from bothered to participate at the time. Sasuke let their voices wash over him as he chased the colours of the sunset with his eyes, vaguely wondering if the sky would show any secrets if he activated his Sharingan. His eyes didn't bleed red though, as Itachi's failing eyesight at such a young age had startled Sasuke enough to use it only when necessary. Instead he satisfied himself by watching for the first star of the evening, but gave up when dark cloud began to build rather swiftly.

"It looks like there will be a storm tonight, Sakura," he said, studying the sky a moment longer before facing his teammates. "Not one you want to get caught out in."

The kunoichi stretched as she stood, glancing out the window as well. "Haah, you're right. I better get home anyway before my parents worry. I have to work at the hospital tomorrow so I won't be at training in the morning. I'll see you two later though; maybe we should meet up for dinner tomorrow night!"

Naruto agreed wholeheartedly, bidding a cheery farewell to the medic-nin as she put her sandals back on and left with the same bright smile she arrived with. The small apartment fell silent for a second.

"Hey, Sasuke?"

"Hm?"

"I'm starving."

Sasuke sighed. He should have known to be honest.

"Do you actually have anything in your apartment other than instant ramen?" he grumbled, heading toward the kitchen.

"Yes!" Naruto replied hotly. "Sai cooked up a real tasty stirfry with what I had, and I'm pretty sure he bought some other food as well."

Sasuke paused for a split second, squashing his irritation at the ANBU nin before Naruto called him on it. _Real tasty stirfry hey. Well I'm sure I can make something just as good, better I'd say._ He opened Naruto's fridge immediately before the power cut out, a rumbling of thunder following the blackout as if to tease.

"Ah fuck!"

"What? Sasuke? What's the matter?"

Sasuke heard Naruto follow him in to the kitchen, dimly able to make out his silhouette from a flash of lightning.

"Power's gone out," he muttered, now unable to prove his cuisine expertise was beyond that of Sai's. "Storm seems pretty bad so it might not be back on for a while."

Sasuke realised that this also meant he couldn't shower or brush his teeth, which he wasn't greatly worried about usually but that was before he didn't like being close to Naruto. He frowned to himself, more than a little concerned about how quickly and to where his thoughts had shifted.

"Guess that means we'll have to have fruit. I'll get a bowl for the fruit and scraps. There's a heap of stuff at the bottom of the fridge we can have."

Sasuke opened the refrigerator again, seeking out their dinner by feel and smell. Not the greatest with fruit firmness, he determined a peach was in fact a mouldy plum upon taste testing it, and thought that perhaps he would rather uncooked instant ramen over the 'stuff at the bottom of the fridge'. Then he stumbled around the kitchen to find the sink, locating it a split second before he threw up.

"Sasuke?! Are you okay? Did you just spew? Why didn't you say you weren't feeling well?!"

Naruto was suddenly leaning beside his friend, patting his back and asking questions that made his eyebrow twitch.

"I was _fine_ until I ate something from _your_ fridge!" Sasuke growled, rinsing his mouth out before slapping Naruto's hand away. "I think I'd rather _not_ eat anything from your food supply, so if you'll excuse me, I'm going to bed."

He managed to find his way to Naruto's bedroom without tripping over anything, slamming the door closed behind him with his anger. He was far from happy as he pulled out his sleeping clothes from his backpack in the dark. Still hungry but feeling too put off to actually eat anything, Sasuke climbed in to bed in a rather foul mood, the thunder and lightning keeping him awake for hours to ensure he would be a perfect bastard in the morning.

_Note: Katon, Gokyaku No Jutsu = something like Fire Element, Fireball Technique. Yell it like Sasuke does, it's fun XD_


End file.
